1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a refrigerator water delivery system incorporating at least one anti-kink device for a water line of the system.
2. Discussion of the Invention
Providing water dispensers and automatic icemakers in household refrigerators has become extremely commonplace. In addition, there is a growing trend toward increasing the purity of all consumed water. For at least these reasons, it has heretofore been proposed in the art to incorporate a water purifying system in a refrigerator in order to filter the water supplied to a water dispenser and/or icemaker. To this end, filter assemblies have been installed during the overall manufacturing of refrigerators, while utilizing filters which can be fairly, readily accessed for replacement directly by consumers.
The inclusion of water and/or ice dispensers requires the routing of water lines in connection with the manufacturing process. Adding a water filter simply adds additional routing requirements. In general, plastic tubing is employed for the water lines. Mainly due to the flexibility of the tubing, care must be taken to ensure proper alignment of the water lines to valves and to prevent kinking of the water lines. If the water line is not properly aligned with a valve fitting, a leak may occur. Improper alignment results in side loading which, over time, can cause the water line/valve connection to degrade and leak. Likewise, it is important to ensure that the water line does become kinked during or after installation. A kink in the water line will restrict water flow and also possibly create a leak in the water line. The potential for a water line kink is particularly prevalent adjacent connections of the water line to a valve. Obviously, one kink in a supply line can significantly limit the effective operation of many dispensing components.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for an enhanced water delivery system for a refrigerator, particularly a delivery system employing one or more anti-kink devices which prevent kinks from developing in one or more water lines, particularly at crucial connection locations of the system.